Overview: A 6-time All-Star and one of the most difficult swingmen to guard in the NBA. 6-6 and really more of a small forward, Pierce is an electric scorer who can put the ball in the net in a variety of different ways thanks to his very complete offensive game. Extremely clutch and seemingly continually adding new things to his game year by year, Pierce is generally considered one of the toughest and most consistent players around—and a real asset to any lockerroom due to his warrior’s mentality and outstanding work ethic. Had the most efficient season of his career in 07-08, showing no problem taking fewer shots and passing the ball more than he ever had in his career, as well as displaying the ability to play outstanding defense when needed. The efficiency and increased effort level was one of the main reasons Boston won the NBA Championship.

Offense: If there is one thing you can say about Paul Pierce, it’s that he’s anything but a predictable player on the offensive end. He has as complete a game as you’ll find from an NBA swingman, being highly effective shooting the ball, slashing to the basket, posting up inside, getting to the free throw, and utilizing his outstanding mid-range game to do everything else in between. Paul has great strength to compliment his outstanding ball-handling skills and footwork. He creates his own shot beautifully from the perimeter, and loves to exploit a crafty step-back pull-up jumper that has become his signature move. He does not have a great first step, nor is he all that explosive around the rim, but he more than makes up for that with his excellent combination of smarts, instincts, touch, and skill—allowing him to often just throw the ball into the hoop in tough situations when all else fails. He’s a terrific shooter who has consistently improved his 3-point range to the point that he simply needs to be guarded closely at all times— a testament to the hard work he’s put in in the gym. He also is a very dangerous post-up threat, using his lower body extremely well to establish deep position in the paint and dig his way towards the basket, showing great footwork pivoting around the paint and the veteran savvy to draw fouls at an extremely high rate. Pierce is extremely aggressive slashing to the rim as well, usually being amongst the league leaders in free throw attempts per game year in and year out. He slashes into the paint with reckless abandon and excellent body control and finishes extremely well at the basket. He seems to have a knack for initiating contact and getting to the line. Pierce’s main downfall lies in the fact that his athleticism isn’t always quite enough to get him a good shot any time he wanted on a bad team that relied too heavily on him, causing him to display questionable shot-selection and settle for awkward fade-aways with a very high degree of difficulty.

Defense: Pierce is tough, smart, strong and experienced—qualities which come in handy when attempting to guard the perimeter in the NBA. But he’s also a bit-heavy footed, causing him to look very slow on the perimeter at times in terms of his lateral quickness. Pierce is generally hit or miss in regards to his defense—it all depends how much effort he puts in on any given night. Prior to the championship season, he would often give players excessive space to work with and not fight through screens the way you’d hope, causing him to get exploited by the younger guards he was matched up with. After the Garnett trade, he racketed up the intensity a couple of notches and became much more effective.